Locking device



March 26, 1940. E. H. LINDSTROM LOCKING DEVICE Filed Dec. 12, 1936 marliznafstrom) Qwhfk 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 26, 1940. ND TRQ'M 2,194,801

LOCKING DEVICE I Filed Dec 12. 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet? I An I l! MflLZWTO M@5 72002 W March 26, 1940.

E. H. LINDSTROM LOCKING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 12, 1935 40:tion.

It is still another object of this invention to ure 19 but with thepartsin unlatched position; provide a latching structure which will act uponand t a Y I I the control mechanism and tend to returnitto Figure 21 isidentical with that shown in Fig- 1 normal inoperative position. i ures19 and 20 but showing the action of the latch I Numerous other objectsand advantages will at the moment of closing the door. v I 45 beapparent from a consideration ofthe follow- The illustrative embodimentdisclosed involves Patented Mar. 26, 1940 if i o 2,194301 i Y i 1 ILOCKING DE VICE T 3 Elmer H. Lindstrom, Aurora, 111., assignor to LyonMetal Products, Incorporated, Aurora, I 111., a corporation of Illinois1 Application December 12, 1936, Serial No'. 115,598

, 6'Claims. (Cl. 292'-84) A o This invention relates to a locking deviceand Figure 4 is airagmentary plan section taken more specifically to adevice for looking or latchon line i-4 in Figure 2 and Showing elatching clothes lockers and the like. ing device and keeper at aposition before'latch- It is an object of this invention,"therefore, ingtakes place; l I

5 to provide an improved construction wherein a Figure 5' is a sectiontaken on line 4-4 5- longitudinally movable control bar is employedFigure 2 and showing the mechanism in full to release the latchingmechanism. j" ee p i Another object of this invention is to provideFigure 6 is a perspective detail view of the an improved automaticlatching device wherein locking mechanism with portions broken aw y 1the door may be latched by merely moving to showing t e el e ts in a hpo i t 0 closed position. I Figure '7 isa perspective view showing thesame A further object of this invention is to provide details Figure t he P s in an improved and simplified mechanism whereina atc d p '1 Ilocker door' or the like may be placed. in locked Figu e i a p p e V Ofthe D -P it condition while in the open position, and will guard member;I Y '15 automatically look upon being moved to closed Figure 9 is apartial sectional view taken on position. "line 9 -9 in Figure It is yetanother object of this invention to Figure 10 is a partial sectionalview taken on provide a mechanism wherein the latch is mounte linev i iiinv Figure ed in fixed vertical relationship and is controlled Figure 11is a Section taken on t line "-1 i' 20 by a longitudinally movable barfrom which it is in Figure 7; free except for control purposes. Figure12 is a detail fragmentary sectionv An additional object of thisinvention is to t h m d fi d f r of l hin'smech n sm; provide a devicewherein the latch moves only in gu e 13 i a V ew O the Same echa sm as.

a single path into and out of engagementwith Sh n in Figure but inunleitched position; 25

the keeper and under control of the releasing Figure 14 is a-se'ctienaliew Of a Second mechanism. I I i ified form of latching device; I

It is furthermore an object of this invention gure 15 is a Viewidentical with that shown to provide a latch which is protected againstin Figure but disclosing the p r in 11 picking or tampering by a guardelement which latched Position; t

protects the latch control. I Figure 16 is a sectional view through afurther Another object of this invention is to provide alternativeembodiment; a latching mechanism which is'ordinarily main- Figurel'l isidentical with that'shown in Fig- I tained in operative position toimmediately and ure 16 but with the parts in unlatched position;permanently latch the door when it is moved to 1 Figure 13 1S identicalW that Shown in F '35 closed position in combination with an improvedures 16 and 17 but showingthe .action of the and simplified releasemechanism which is seplatch atthe moment of closing the door; arate fromthe latch mechanism and adapted to Fi r 13 is a tional viewthrough. afurther release'the latch from its normal locked posi- 1 .alternativeembodiment; I I

- Figure 20 is identical with that shown in Fig- 40 ing specificationand drawings which disclose'a a conventional type of locker l0 (see 'ligujre 1) few devices constructed in accordance with the having sidewalls and a door frame formed with principles of the present inventionand in which, side angle members l2' and I4 and a door [6 Figure 1is'a'perspective view of a locker made hinged to the locker member l2for closure of the 50 in accordance with the present invention;aperture. To the interior of the angle member Figure 2 is an insideperspective detail view --I4-is welded, or otherwise secured, a lug l8havof the locking and latching mechanism; "ing a flange forabutting'the'hmer face of the Figure 3 is a fragmentary plansection-taken angle member and extending into the door openon line 33 inFigure 2; r in'g ingenerally U-'-shap'ed configuration so that 55 thereis provided a forwardly extending upper portion 26 having an aperture 22therein.

The door, preferably formed of sheet metal, has its forward edge turnedover to form the inwardly extending flange 24 which is again turned atright angles at a spaced point from the door to form the flange 26extending parallel to the plane of the door 16.

A channel member 28 is positioned in the enclosure formed by the flanges24 and 26 and the face of the door lfiand has its base portion acrossthe opening between the flange 26 and the face of the door. The sidewalls of the channel member are provided with longitudinally extendingslots 36 and, after the channel member is positioned within the flangesin the process of manufacture, portions 32 of the flange 26 are deformedinwardly into the slots 36 to maintain the channel in position andthereby form a tubular enclosure at the edge of the door. Moreover, theelongated slots permit limited longitudinal movement of the channelmember with respect to the door. I

Adjacent the position of the door handle 34, the channel member isprovided with an angle member 36 having its ends bent over to form abox-like enclosure and being provided with flanges 38 which may bespot-welded to the channel member. A manual latching control member 46is positioned interiorly of the handle 34 and has horizontally extendingfingers 42 which pass through apertures 44 and are secured to the anglemember 36 by machine screws 46 which pass through holes therein and arethreaded into the horizontally extending fingers 42.

Thus the latching control member 46 is rigidly connected to the latchcontrol channel member and forms an exterior control for the purpose ofsliding the latter member longitudinally.

The door handle 34 is formed with tab portions 48 which pass throughcomplementary openings in the door and are turned over on the interiorthereof to position the handle in place. In order toclear the tabportions 48, the forwardly extending face of the angle member 36 isdeformed as at 56. Consequently, it will be seen that the angle memberforms a box-like enclosure covering the tabs 48 as well as the apertures44 when the device is in locked position.

The latching mechanism comprises a finger 52 of relatively springy metalwhich is secured at the bottom end thereof to the inwardly extendingflange 24 by a rivet 54. The endof the finger 52 is preferably providedwith a depressed bearing surface as at 56 in order that it may beaccurately and permanently affixed with relation to the door. A latchbolt 58 is secured to the finger 52, by means of an upset portion, andextends horizontally from, the finger 52. The top of the spring memberis bent inwardly as at 66 and provided with an embossed or raisedportion 62 and is later rearwardly directed as at 64 for purposes whichwill hereinafter appear.

A bridge-like member 66 is vertically situated in spaced relationship tothe channel member and flange 24 and has bent-over portions 68terminating in flanges 61, parallel to the base of the channel memberand secured thereto as by welding. The vertically extending face of thisbridge member is provided with a longitudinal slot 69 forming an openingto permit the latch bolt 58 to operate therethrough. The side portionsof this bridge member are turned outwardly at 16 parallel to the doorand flange 26 and thus form an enclosure surrounding the spring finer52.

The flange 26 and the inner side wall of the channel member 28 areslotted as at 12 to permit entry of the forwardly extending keepermember 20 into the tubular enclosure formed at the margin of the door,as shown in Figures 4 and 5. The aperture 22 in the keeper is sopositioned as to reside oppositely of the latch bolt 58 when the door isin closed position and it will, therefore, be apparent that, undernormal conditions, the bolt will be positioned in the aperture 22 whenthe door has been shut.

The inwardly curved portion 66 of the spring finger 52 is in normallocking position when it is just above the upper shoulder of the bridgemember 66 and extends thereover. Movement of the bridge member upwardlyas in Figure 9, however, would cause the upper shoulder to engage theembossed portion 62 and force the finger to the left thereby withdrawingthe latch bolt 58 from the opening 22 in the keeper.

The lug I8 is provided at its rearward inner portion with a rubber stop14 which is held in place by ears 16 registering in correspondingopenings in the lug. Thus this rubber member forms an abutment and stopupon closure of the door and absorbs the impact of closure as well aspreventing undue noise.

In order to prevent unauthorized tampering, a pick-proof guard shield 18(see Figure 8) is providel having a generally channel-shapedconfiguration and adapted to fit within the outwardly turned side walls16 of the bridge member. The side walls 86 of the guard member areaccurately fitted to the space between the inwardly turned flange 24 andthe parallel inner wall of the bridge member 66 in order to position itwithin these confines. v

The face of the guard member is cut away at 82 to form an opening onlyslightly greater in height than the width-of the latch bolt 58. Thusthis guard member, when inserted in the position shown in the figures,serves to cover the vertically extending slot 69 below the latch boltand prevent the unauthorized insertion of any instrument with which thespring finger 52 could be pushed back, thereby withdrawing the bolt andpermitting the lock to be picked.

Moreover, it is preferred to form the curve and the embossed portion 62in such a manner that a downward component of force will be exertedagainst the upper shoulder of the bridge member 66 during the time it isin contact with the said embossment 62. normally tend to urge thechannel member downwardly into latch releasing position. In operation,therefore, the latch and releasing mechanism would normally be in theposition shown in Figures 6 and 9, that is, with the channel member inlowermost position and the spring finger 52 tending to urge the latchbolt to the right, as shown in Figure 9, for instance.

Assuming the door is initially open, if it is moved to the positionshown in Figure 4, the latch bolt will strike the outer edge of theforwardly extending keeper portion 26 of the lug Thus the spring will Apadlock or other similar device may be applied through the aperture 86in the downwardly extending lug 84 to secure the channel member in itsdownward position such that it will be inoperative to release the latch.This locking, may take place while the door is completely open, but itwill be obvious that, upon mere closure of the door, the latch bolt willslide past the end of the keeper member and will automatically take itslatched position upon registering with the opening 22.

I When it is desired to unlock and open the door, the particular lock orthe like will first be removed from the aperture 86. Then, by merelyraising the latch control member 40 manually with relation to the handle34, the channel member will be forced upwardly carrying with it thebridge member 66. As the free corner of the bridge member ridesupwardly, it contacts the curved portion 62 of the spring finger,forcing it to the left as in Figures 9 and 10, the finger carrying withit the latch bolt 58 which will thus be withdrawn from the aperture 22in the keeper member. The bent upper portion 64 of the spring serves tolimit its movement in unlatched position.

It will be apparent, therefore, that the combination of the bridgemember and spring results in what amounts to a cam action to control theposition of the latch. The combination of vthe downward component of thespring against the upper protruding edge of the bridge member, togetherwith the force of gravity, will serve to return the channel member toits lowermost position wherein the latch will be permitted, under theinfluence of its spring, to return to operative position.

There is shown in Figure 12, a modified'form of latch and bridge memberconstruction. In this embodiment, the spring 80 parallels the edge ofthe door and bends inwardly and upwardly in a reverse curve so that thelatch bolt 90 will be horizontally situated in normal latched position.The upper portion of the spring is bent inwardly, first gradually as at92, and then sharply as at 94.

So, too, the vertically extending face of the bridge member 66 is givena pronounced deformation 96 toward the spring. It will thus be apparentthat, if the channel member is raised, the upper shoulder of the bridgemember will slide against the angularly extending portion 92 of thespring tending to urge it away from the keeper member 20 and out of theaperture therein. At the same time the outwardly deformed portion 96 ofthe bridge will press against the inwardly extending section 89 of thespringand perform the same function below the latch bolt. Thus thespring and latch bolt will be more or less evenly pressed in ahorizontal direction by forces applied both above and below the latch.

In this modification, therefore, the curved deformation 96 inconjunction with the portion 89 of the spring forms a second cam for thepurpose of releasing the latching mechanism. As the upper portion 68 ofthe bridge member contacts the inwardly and downwardly extending portion94 of the spring, the latter will produce a considerably increased forcein a downward direction, as shown in Figure 13, tending to return thechannel member to latch releasing position.

Yet another alternative embodiment is disclosed in Figures 14 and 15wherein the spring finger 88 has a portion extending parallel to theedge of the door for some distance; The inwardly bent portion 89 extendstoward the keeper and then terminates in a vertically extending portionto which is secured the latch bolt 90 in the usual manner.

It will be apparent that this structure is similar to that shown inFigures 12 and 13 since the bridge member is deformed as at 96, in thesame manner as hitherto described. However, the

spring terminates short of contact with the upper shoulder of thebridge.

Thus, in operation, the deformation 96, as the bridge is moved upwardly,contacts the sloping portion 89 of the spring and forces it backwardlywith the result that the latch 90 is drawn from the keeper. According tothis embodiment, the cam portion 96, co-acting with the portion of thespring below the latch, alone is responsible for withdrawal thereof, asshown in Figure 15, there being no co-action between the upper edge ofthe spring and the corresponding upper shoulder of the bridge member asin the other embodiments.

In the alternative embodiment shown in Figures 16, 17 and 18, the spring88 is mounted in the manner heretofore described, and secured in placeby a'rivet 54. Its upper end, however, is bent inwardly'and upwardly toform a fingerl00 engaged by a hook-like extension I02 of the bridgemember 66. Normally when so engaged, the spring and, therefore, thelatch, is supported against displacement at its lower end by the rivet54 and at its upper end by the hook I02. Therefore, in use when the dooris slammed with the control bar down, the latch moves rearwardly withthe springv 88 taking the position shown in Figure 18, until itregisters with the aperture in the keeper. When the latching bar israised, the hook member I02 rises and frees the finger I00 permittingready retraction in the manner shown in Figure 17. I

The alternative preferred embodiment shown in Figures 19, 20 and 21comprehends a spring 88 having a rearwardly extending upper portion I04in a finger I06. Thus the position of the finger I06 adjacent the wall24, together with the rivet fastening 54, providessupport for both endsof the spring against retractive forces.

Release of the latch is accomplished by means of the wedge-shapedportion I08 formed in the bridge member 66 which is adapted to bearagainst a forwardly and upwardly extending portion 0 of the spring 88.Thus, when the bridge member is actuated upwardly, the wedgeshapedconfiguration rides upwardly along the portion I I0 of the spring,forcing it together with the latch rearwardly and away from the latchkeeper.

It will be seen that the bent-up flanges on'the bridge member protectand enclose the sides of the spring and that the guard member I8completes this function by covering the aperture 69 in the bridge memberat all points above and below the latch bolt. Thus any instrumentincause the spring mounting is ample to support said latch in alloperative positions.

The aperture 69 is proportioned to provide adequate clearance therefor.Moreover, it will be obvious that various shoulders and cam surfaces maybe substituted for the bridge member 66 and may be variously positionedin order to contact the latch mechanism and remove it from engagementwith the keeper by mere longitudinal movement of the channel member.

Furthermore the latching mechanism, in this construction, is notnecessarily attached to a movable control bar but may be permanently,though resiliently, aiiixed to the door while the releasing mechanism,which is entirely separate in construction and operation, may be set inmotion longitudinally in order to contact said mechanism and release itfrom operative engagement. It is, of course, possible to vary theposition of the different elements with relation to the door frame, thedoor, etc., for instance.

It is thought that the invention and numerous of its attendantadvantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it isobvious that numerous changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit orscope of the invention, or sacrificing any of its attendant advantages,the form herein described being a preferred embodiment for the purposeof illustrating the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A latching mechanism for use with a casing having an opening and adoor hinged to said casing for closure of said opening, comprising acooperable keeper fixed on said casing and forwardly presented endwiseto said opening, said door having a flange presented laterally andextending along a margin of said door and having a second inturnedflange at the edge of said first flange disposed in parallel relation tothe door and slot ed to receive said keeper, a spring strip mounted onsaid door and carrying a latch lug for horizontal movement across saidslot, said keeper having an opening therein for receiving the latch, amanually operable bar vertically movable between said flanges, means onsaid bar to move said latch lug from its keeper engaging position acrosssaid slot, a portion of said spring strip engaging said last mentionedmeans to return said bar to inoperative position permitting said latchlug to return to its keeper engaging position.

2. A latching device for a locker having an opening and a door for saidopening, comprising a keeper extending forwardly into said opening, alatch including resilient mounting means on said door for normallyurging said latch into a position to engage said keeper, a bar movablewith respect to the latch, means to move said bar from an inoperativeposition into engagement with a. portion of said latch and move saidlatch out of keeper engaging position, and an operative connectionbetween said resilient mounting means and said bar to return said bar toinoperative position permitting said latch to return to its normalkeeper engaging position.

3. A latching device for a locker having an opening and a door therefor,comprising a keeper extending forwardly into said opening, a latchresiliently mounted on said door and normally urged into a keeperengaging position, an independent releasing mechanism comprising a barvertically movable with respect to the door, means on said bar to engageand force said latch from operative to inoperative position when saidbar is raised to a predetermined position, and manually operable meansexteriorly of said door to move said bar to said latch disengagingposition, said bar being automatically lowered under the action ofgravity upon release of said manually operable means thereby to permitsaid latch to return to its keeper engaging position independently ofthe position of the door.

4. A latching mechanism for use with a casing having an opening and adoor hinged to said casing for closure of said opening, comprising acooperable keeper fixed on said casing and forwardly presented endwiseto said opening, said door having a housing extending adjacent a marginthereof, a resilient spring mounting secured to said door, a latch bolton said mounting and urged by said spring mounting into a keeperengaging position, a bar movable longitudinally of said housing, a camprojection on said bar, means for moving said bar longitudinally tocause said cam to engage said mounting to retract said latch bolt fromits keeper engaging position, said spring mounting engaging said barwhen moved to latch releasing position for returning said bar to itsoriginal position permitting said latch bolt to return to its keeperengaging position.

5. In a locker, a door, a housing adjacent one edge of said door, alatching device comprising a spring in said housing, a latch carried bysaid spring, a keeper member on said locker, means to permit said keeperto enter said housing and be engaged by said latch, a bar movablelongitudinally in said housing and having a cam surface thereon adaptedto engage said latch and constrain it from engagement with said keeper,and shielding means surrounding said spring whereby to protect the latchagainst unauthorized release.

6. In a locker, a door, a stationary keeper, a latch resiliently mountedon an edge of the door for movement parallel to the plane of the door, amanually operable channel latch bar slidable longitudinally of said edgeof the door, said channel latch bar enclosing the latch and beingadapted to receive and enclose the latch engaging portion of the keeperwhen the door is in closed position, cam means carried by the bar inposition to engage and move the latch out of engagement with the keeper,said latch comprising a spring engaging said cam means when in latchreleasing position for moving the cam means and the latch bar to anormal inoperative position permitting the latch to return to its keeperengaging position.

ELMER H. LINDSTROM.

